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Keith explores how real estate investors can use mortgage strategies to build long-term wealth.  Seasoned lending expert and repeat guest Caeli Ridge joins Keith to discuss why debt isn't something to avoid but to optimize, and how negotiating terms can matter more than price. They walk through practical approaches for new and experienced investors, from house hacking to scaling a rental portfolio. The conversation also tackles common myths about qualifying for investment property loans and what really matters to lenders.  Finally, they emphasize focusing on fundamentals—cash flow, risk management, and informed decision-making—rather than fixating on interest rate headlines. Episode Page: GetRichEducation.com/604 For access to properties or free help with a GRE Investment Coach, start here: GREmarketplace.com GRE Free Investment Coaching: GREinvestmentcoach.com Get mortgage loans for investment property: RidgeLendingGroup.com or call 855-74-RIDGE  or e-mail: info@RidgeLendingGroup.com Invest with Freedom Family Investments.  For predictable 10-12% quarterly returns, visit FreedomFamilyInvestments.com/GRE or text  FAMILY to 66866  Unlock truly passive real estate income—visit flockhomes.com/GRE today to see if your properties qualify for a 721 exchange with Flock Homes. Will you please leave a review for the show? I'd be grateful. Search "how to leave an Apple Podcasts review"  For advertising inquiries, visit: GetRichEducation.com/ad Best Financial Education: GetRichEducation.com Get our wealth-building newsletter free— GREletter.com  Our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/GetRichEducation Follow us on Instagram: @getricheducation Complete episode transcript:   Keith Weinhold  0:01   Welcome to GRE I'm your host. Keith Weinhold Some mortgage guidance out there is costing you wealth today. I'm talking about how you can negotiate to get better terms. I'll tell you the exact questions to ask. Then a guest clears up mortgage myths and misconceptions and how you can borrow to win today on get rich education   Keith Weinhold  0:28   let me ask you something, if you've worked hard to build wealth, is your money positioned to actually support your goals? A lot of accredited investors leave capital sitting in cash because it feels safe, but inflation and missed income opportunities can quietly erode its value. Freedom family investments offers freedom notes for investors seeking structured income backed by real estate. It's a straightforward approach built on real assets, not speculation and full disclosure. I'm an investor myself. What I like is that their team walks you through how it all works so you can decide if it aligns with your portfolio and income goals. Every investment carries risk and nothing is guaranteed, but with a track record of consistent on time investor payouts, they built real credibility. Go to freedomfamilyinvestments.com to book a clarity call or text family to 66 866, that's family to 6866   Speaker 1  1:32   you're listening to the show that has created more financial freedom than nearly any show in the world. This is get rich education.   Keith Weinhold  1:48   Welcome to GRE from Albany, New York to Albany, Oregon and across 188 nations worldwide. You're listening to get rich Education. I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, as we know, debt isn't something to avoid. It's something to optimize. As a real estate investor, I would rather have lower mortgage rates than higher ones, and now you can call me Captain Obvious. Yet there are some reasons that higher mortgage rates benefit us as investors, though they're not as great as the lower rates are I'll discuss some of that today. This stuff obviously influences marketplace behavior. In fact, here we are now, years after rates made their historic surge and nearly tripled between 2022 and 2023 and yet still, 70% of mortgage borrowers have an astoundingly rock bottom rate below 5% today, lower than the ocean floor, and they won't sell those properties. That's just one contributor to the low supply hangover that still lingers. Are today's buyers still anchored to an unrealistic baseline. It certainly reframed how investors think about normal borrowing costs and what that word normal means. My first ever rental property, many years ago, was purchased at a 30 year fixed rate of six and three eighths percent. One year later, I got to refinance a full 1% lower at five and three eighths. I'm happy that I bought one I did because starting year earlier, got all my real estate benefits rolling that much sooner, the leverage and everything else, and when I did that, refinance many years ago, from six and three eighths down to five and three eighths, I was able to roll all of my loan refinance costs into the new mortgage balance, and that way I didn't have to pay anything out of pocket. So financing is negotiable. A lot of investors don't realize that buy down your rate if you want roll the loan costs into the loan amount, like I did. In fact, I would usually rather have a higher mortgage rate and then not have to come out of pocket at the table. I would rather do it that way. Sometimes I take a higher rate and even get cash back at the closing table. So I walk away from the closing table with a property and cash, but yet with a bigger mortgage. And what's the strategy there? Well, with more inevitable Inflation, I want to load up on the dollars that I get now and then make those paybacks over the long term with future cheaper, diluted dollars for 360 months, sometimes I don't have to ask the lender for any sort of favor to get that zero help from the lender at the closing table to get cash back. How do I do that? Well, I ask the seller to give me cash at the closing. Closing table in return for offering the seller full asking price, or sometimes even over the asking price. I have done it the strategy of offering full price or even a little more than the full list price. See, that's often easier than getting a price cut from the seller, and that works great, because getting the closing table, cash is going to benefit you more than the price cut would anyway, in almost every circumstance, and when it comes to your lender, ask them questions that cut through the noise. Now, lenders have to make their profits somewhere and stay in business, but I've asked the question, what's the break even point on this rate buy down. That's something you can ask today. That can be an even better question for you to ask of builders with all of the buy downs that they're doing for you now, most people know about a mortgage rate lock. That's when you're in contract to buy a property. At some point, you and your mortgage company, you lock in your rate for, say, 30 to 60 days, and that way, if the rate rises before the deal is completed, you are protected. You are locked in. But some lenders also offer float downs. That's for if you lock and then rates go lower before you get the deal closed. In that case, you get the lower rate, and now you successfully played both sides, but most borrowers don't know to ask about a float down for larger apartment buildings, sometimes you can negotiate away prepayment penalties or instead a shorter penalty window. The thing to keep in mind is that smallest borrowers negotiate price, but savvy investors negotiate structure. That's what we're talking about here, and that's why you often hear that terms are more important than price. So there's plenty of opportunity here, even if historically low rates is not where today's opportunity lies. Today, we're going to discuss some things about mortgages that most people believe but are just flat out wrong. Also, what separates the borrowers who build real estate portfolios from the ones who stay stuck on property one, let's have a conversation with this week's repeat guest, a real favorite here at GRE for her mortgage clarity.   Keith Weinhold  7:35   Hey, the president of ridge lending group, Chaley Ridge is back with us. We'll get into things like rates and loan strategy shortly, but first, let's discuss some fun. What would you do? Chili, what would you do if you're 35 and have 100k to invest in real estate? What's your first move? Ooh, good question.   Caeli Ridge  7:55   So let's think five years ago for me now I'm 35 what would I do if I had that was a joke for all you listeners, obviously, you know, I think that if I could go back and knowing what I know now, I would probably invest that into an owner occupied house hack using an FHA loan. Probably look for newer construction if I could find it, and I would probably target a four unit residential property. I'd probably put three and a half percent down lowest rates with that. FHA, I would leverage my money, and I would get three other tenants in units, two, three and four to pay my mortgage, and then I'd use the rest to go buy an investment property   Keith Weinhold  8:32   much like I started out with the owner occupied four Plex, live in one unit, rent out the other three. FHA, three and a half percent down. What if someone, however, lives in a market where the numbers just don't work and the law really tilts toward the tenant rather than the landlord.   Caeli Ridge  8:47   You know, that's a good point. There's a lot of factors, obviously, right? And there's exceptions to all rules, etc. So I don't want to generalize, but I would probably take the 100,000 and maybe look at some kind of a burr in that case, maybe pivot and do some math and see if buy rehab rent refi might be more applicable. To take that 100 grand and leverage it that dollar bill, as far as I could make it  go   Keith Weinhold  9:10   sometimes you have to get scrappy when you're starting out another what would you do now? Say you've got some more experience. You already own two rentals. How do you scale that to 10.   Caeli Ridge  9:21   You know, my biggest piece of advice for investors, especially newer ish investors, is to make sure that you've got your eye on some level of diversification. Scaling from two to 10 can sound pretty daunting to some people, but I think that diversification advice comes in handy when you're not singularly focused on, let's say, a core philosophy of single family, residence, cash flow only in one market instead, maybe layer in some appreciating markets where you can earn and count on longer burn appreciation that you can then leverage from to then purchase the next to the next to the next, right. Cash. Refinances borrowed funds are non taxable. I would probably say diversification is the core answer to that question. For me,    Keith Weinhold  10:07   yeah, if you've already got two properties, maybe if you've had those for a few years, yes, you can do a cash out refinance and basically use one of your first two properties to fund that third and fourth and so on, right exactly? How about if rates drop 1% tomorrow? What's the next thing you would do? Immediately?    Caeli Ridge  10:29   I would do the math. Is what I would do, Keith, and I know you love that answer. So if I had a portfolio of X number of properties and rates just dropped 1% tomorrow, I would take a hard look at what I had in the queue, and I would say, Okay, how much does a one percentage point rate save me in monthly payment, aka, earn me in cash flow, and what is it going to cost me? It is imperative that the investor is actually doing the math. 1% may sound amazing, but if it's only going to save you 5060, bucks a month, and maybe that's enough, but it might cost you five grand. Does that math work for you? So that's my answer. Do the math?   Keith Weinhold  11:08   Yeah, if rates drop 1% does that make you want to perform more purchases? Does that make you want to refi something that you already have and at the same time that you do that refinance? Okay? That may or may not save you a lot in payment. But another consideration is, okay, well, at the same time you do that refinance, oh, maybe you could take cash out and use it as a down payment for another property, or just use that money for something else,    Caeli Ridge  11:33   absolutely, and you know what we're talking about. That from a purchase perspective, if rates drop 1% tomorrow, from an investment perspective, what do we think is going to happen to the rest of the market? The homeowners are going to be coming out of the woodwork, right? The owner occupied the competition is going to get very, very stiff, steep. I would say that if you are banking on or waiting for rates to do X, Y and Z, you are missing massive opportunities today. So there's a lot of reasons not to hesitate and be waiting on some magic, massive rate drop.   Keith Weinhold  12:04   All right. Well, those were three interesting what would you do scenarios you mentioned the possibility, and it's surely only a possibility that mortgage rates will drop sometime in the near future. Let's expand on that. If someone is indeed waiting for rates to drop. What are they risking in the meantime?   Caeli Ridge  12:25   You know, this is such a good but complicated question. There's a lot of layers to this. If someone has a magic number in their head, again, I'm going to press back and say you have to be doing the math. All right. So a lot of people conveniently, maybe not so conveniently. But a lot of people forget that interest rates, by nature, always drop or reduce much slower than they're going to climb. Okay, historically, go back and do your own research here. Interest rates, when they go up, they tend to kind of go up quickly. When they come down, they really kind of trail, and it's a slow, progressive landing. It's not a quick thing when they come down. So if we know that that's true, or at least historically, that's been true an interest rate reduction of an eighth or a quarter or three, it's of a point. Maybe that takes us a month or two or six or a year. What does that really mean to that payment? You have to be doing the math so, largely dependent on the loan amount. Okay, if you think that interest rates are going to be reduced in a month from now by a quarter of a percentage point, what does that mean to the payment? Does it mean $12 a month? Does it mean $100 a month? And in that scenario, in that calculation, what are you giving up by waiting the month or two or six for a what if I think that you are diminishing your rates of return by waiting on a come that one may never happen, and two, the significance is probably far less relevant than you are giving it credit for.    Keith Weinhold  13:52   Now, I think generally real estate investors want low mortgage rates. Obviously, it gives us a better refinance opportunity. It gives us a better purchase opportunity, potentially, okay. In general, we want lower rates. However, there are some reasons a lot of people don't think about as to why lower mortgage rates are actually bad for a real estate investor. If you just look historically, when have we had extraordinary low mortgage rates here in these past 20 years? Well, they've been to get us out of huge economic problems, late to global financial crisis or the covid pandemic. So if you're wishing for really rock bottom rates, which again, is tempting to do, and is advantageous, in a sense, there is a downside as well. If there are super low rates, a lot of people might be out of work, including your tenants. So that's the reason that we want to be careful as to what we wish for, with rates being super low and artificially low, like they were a couple times in the past two decades. And you know, Caeli another reason why I'm not fully in love. With low mortgage rates, although I liked them, is the fact that I look back and notice as being a property investor for more than two decades now, is that I have had tenants leave when mortgage rates are too low and lending is too easy, especially leading up to the global financial crisis, it was so easy to get first time homebuyer loans at really attractive rates. So I had higher vacancy because mortgage rates were so low that my tenants left and became first time homeowners. So yes, we generally want lower mortgage rates, but there is a downside to that as well.    Caeli Ridge  15:35   And I think there's probably a sweet spot, I think such a good point that most people probably don't think about Keith, and I couldn't agree more, when rates have been at their lowest. To your point, all hell is breaking loose economically in so many other sectors. Yeah, be careful what you wish for.   Keith Weinhold  15:51   Any old time, real estate investor would find it really humorous and almost cute that people think mortgage rates between six and 7% are high. You and I know they're historically low. 7.7% is the long term owner occupied, 30 year fixed mortgage rate going back to 1971 per Freddie Mac the most reliable stat set that we have. But now that we have come up back into what's really a more normal range, just like we started to do in 2022 How should someone think overall in not a high but a higher mortgage rate environment? What are some things that actually matter more now than they did before back five plus years ago?    Caeli Ridge  16:32    I want to give you some statistics. So from 1990 to now, the average owner occupied rate was 6.08 now that's owner occupied, and more often than not, you can add about a point percentage point spread between that and non owner occupied in general. So we are right in line with the last 36 year swing of where interest rates have been. So please keep that in mind. Again, that psychology piece. But overall, I think that what we need to be paying attention to, even if, over the last five years, 10 years, interest rates are a little bit higher than we came to recognize them, the pandemic was an outlier. You guys. Okay, let that lie that's hopefully never to repeat itself. But what we want to be focusing on, and I know that I'm beating a dead horse here, is that you have to get rid of the mental block that you have about that number that we call an interest rate. You need to be looking at a property holistically that says, does it cash flow based on this tenant application? What about this tenant application? What is my exit strategy? Is my property management doing the job that it needs to be doing? Can I trust them to ensure that my vacancy is low? And if I have to evict somebody that they know what they're doing and they know all the rules in the different cities and counties, I think that those are going to be more prevalent to the successful real estate transaction that gives you the financial freedom that you want long term, stop fixating on the rate. That's my advice.    Keith Weinhold  17:53   Some of those operations that you talked about are controllable, and the mortgage rate is largely uncontrollable outside of maybe getting a better credit score to get a lower rate or something like that, focus more on what you can control. And Caeli, you touched on something interesting that I think a lot of people don't understand, and that is investor financing versus owner occupant financing. A lot of people just don't understand the differences as to why investor loans cost more, tell us about that.   Caeli Ridge  18:25   Yeah, good question. It happens to be about secondary markets, so I won't get too technical, but when we talk about mortgage backed securities right Wall Street, and this is an asset class that is bought and sold and traded, etc, etc, there are demands, obviously, and then you've got layers of risk. So the baseline thinking is that an owner occupant is less likely to default on the home that they live in, right? Something is going on financially with them. They've got some hardships, etc. They're going to cut loose the rental property before they're going to default on their primary so that's just kind of the overall basic. There's other variables in there, but that's the one that makes the biggest difference. Is default rates on an owner occupied versus a non owner occupied. Now I may argue, if I can just add to this. So this is a little bit of a history lesson for those that maybe remember or too young to remember this. 08, 09, housing and lending implode on each other in this country, the financial crisis, et cetera, et cetera. It was the Wild West before that. You could have a pulse and get a mortgage, even investors right, 0% down. They had some pretty risky things out there. We didn't do that kind of stuff, but they were out there, and I certainly contributed to what happened with the oh eight financial crisis. So fast forward, and I feel like when things like that, especially in this country, happen and devastate big, huge sectors of our economy, we knee jerk. And we knee jerk in a way that is almost the 180 of irresponsibility. Let me explain so when we talk about what it used to be like, fogging a mirror, right, having a pulse and getting a loan as an investor or anyone. For that matter. Now fast forward to post, 08,09, you've got Dodd Frank, all that sweeping legislation, etc, they raised the qualification bar. Okay, that's fine. Now I want to come into today's space, and I want to give you guys an idea of the qualification markers between an owner occupied let's just use an FHA and a non owner occupied purchase. So you can have 580 credit and put three and a half percent down and have slightly over a 50% debt to income ratio and get an FHA loan, a GSE government sponsored enterprise loan. All right, a non owner occupied you've got to walk on water. Man, I make that dumb joke, files of blood and DNA samples, you've got 20 25% down minimum. You've got to have x higher in credit score, all these extra reserves, etc, etc. So I would argue that secondary mentality, thinking the non owner occupied is, in my opinion, probably a more stable loan as it relates to default. So there's some disconnect. I think that the way that that is thought about in secondary market speak, but maybe a little TMI for the listeners. In any case, that's the reason that they're looked at differently. The ideal, or the idea is, is that the owner occupied is less likely to default than the non owner occupied. I would disagree with that premise,   Keith Weinhold  21:19   and I think you would agree that things are still pretty tight because lending requirements are still pretty rigid, still pretty strict. You have to have a good credit history and assets and income, unlike what we had to have 20 years ago, when I was a real estate investor myself, back when things were irresponsible and back when things were free flowing, and money was flying, and a lot of nefarious things were happening. Even though I had a good credit score all my life, I was the beneficiary of those High Flying Wild West times myself. I remember on the first four Plex I owned after I had moved out of it so I didn't even occupy it anymore, I got a generous appraisal for a 90% combined loan to value, cash out, refinance 90% that I would not get today, no way.   Caeli Ridge  22:10   Yeah, but that knee jerk is, I think, also part of the problem. They go the opposite way that pendulum shift is, I feel like there needs to be a little bit more reasonability in the mix and different markers to justify who should be getting or being able to take advantage.   Keith Weinhold  22:26   When we talk about investor loans versus owner occupied loans, that really begs the question. Now, when does it make sense to house hack versus go straight into investor loans? What are some of the trade offs there.   Caeli Ridge  22:41   I would argue that if you are in a position and you're willing to share your primary residence with you know, tenants house hack is always a great idea, because you've got these great loan terms, you've got this massive leverage, and almost always you've got other people making the entire mortgage payment for you, or the vast majority of that mortgage payment, I'm such a big fan of that is a strategy for real estate investing. You've got to do it right. You got to do it by the rules. But I can't think of a downside if you qualify and you're willing to do that, to live with other people right next door, etc, etc. Some families don't think that that works for them, whatever, but I just think it's a fantastic way to jumpstart someone's real estate investment journey and then continue it. If you do it right every 12 months, then you'll be able to continue to parlay into the next, the next, the next. One thing I would say about that that I don't get a lot of opportunity to talk about, but since we're talking about here, if you're going to house hack and you've got, you know, a duplex, triplex fourplex, and you want to manage it yourself, which I think everybody should be responsible to manage at least one rental property in their lifetime, maybe official, yeah, yeah. More often than not, people will tend to pay for that service down the road. But having the experience is valuable. Do not tell the other tenants that you are the home owner, do yourself a favor and just you're another tenant, but you're taking care of you know, you don't want to let them know that you actually own the property. There's lots of emotional and different things that you want to avoid giving that information away to the tenants.   Keith Weinhold  24:17   I have had two friends, and each friend owned a fourplex, and what they did is they would manage the other person's fourplex. That way, they were able to keep it more professional and less emotional, since it wasn't the owner directly dealing with the tenant, and that provided a buffer that really benefited them. I haven't done that myself, but I found that such an interesting way to approach it?    Caeli Ridge  24:42   Yeah, that's smart. If that ends up being your situation, definitely horse trade that way. Otherwise, you're just a tenant and you can be on call whatever, just avoid giving that information back to the other tenants that may be there.   Keith Weinhold  24:54   Well, there's an underwriting reality out there that chili can share with us versus. Some of the online advice that you get, and what some of the biggest myths are that borrowers believe. We'll talk about that next. You're listening to get rich education. Our guest is Ridge lending Group President chailey Ridge, more we come back. I'm your host. Keith Weinhold.    Keith Weinhold  25:12   Flock homes helps you retire from real estate and landlording, whether it's one problem property or your whole portfolio through a 721 exchange, deferring your capital gains tax and depreciation recapture. It's a strategy long used by the ultra wealthy. Now Mom and Pop landlords can 721 the residential real estate request your initial valuation, see if your properties qualify@flockhomes.com slash, slash GRE, that's F, l, O, C, K, homes.com/gre    Keith Weinhold  25:47   the same place where I get my own mortgage loans is where you can get yours. Ridge lending group and MLS, 42056, they provided our listeners with more loans than anyone because they specialize in income properties. They help you build a long term plan for growing your real estate empire with leverage. Start your prequel and even chat with President chailey Ridge personally. While it's on your mind, start at Ridge lending group.com that's Ridge lending group.com   Ted Sutton  26:22   Hey, it's corporate directs Ted Sutton, listen to get rich education with Keith Weinhold, and don't quit your Daydream.   Keith Weinhold  26:29    Welcome back to get Rich's case, we're talking with a familiar and recurrent guest Ridge lending group, President Caeli Ridge Kelly, talk to us about your underwriting reality there, versus some of the advice that one gets online sometimes, including what really gets a loan approved with some of those things like income and reserves and DTI.    Caeli Ridge  26:59   You know, this can be so confusing for the consumer, because there are so many different vehicles in which to get Mortgage Funding, and there's something in our industry called an overlay. Okay, an overlay is taking the purest form of a guideline and adding layers of risk to it. I'll give you an example. Let's say that we know, or most of us know that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac allow for up to 10 finance properties per qualified individual, right? That is a straight Fannie Freddie guideline B of A, and this could be wrong, but a big boy bank may have an overlay and layers of risk that say we will only allow up to four, right? So all of this differing information, conflicting information, when the nice thing with ridges is that we go by the purest form of the guideline, we are not going to impose those overlays. So in working with us, you're always going to be sure that we know exactly what those guidelines are. We know them like our own faces, and that we're not going to impose some additional risk layering or overlay that might prohibit or preclude the qualification. It's pretty basic stuff. I mean, if you're going full doc, Fannie Freddie, and this can apply to our owner occupied and, of course, all of our non owner occupied income, debt to income, credit and assets, it's a pretty basic formula that we use. And then we've got all the other products that we have. Again, knowing those underwriting guidelines like the back of our hand, is very important to making sure that we can navigate the battleship in a creek. That's the analogy that I give that tends to be mortgage lending, or what feels like mortgage lending anyway. So it's pretty basic. We have to understand what the borrower's qualifications are out of the gate, and then we can provide them with a schematic of options that they can tell us which direction they want to go in    Keith Weinhold  28:42   for quite a long time now, one could get 10 conventional investor loans, single or 20 married. It wasn't always that way. I remember attending a real estate workshop in 2012 and you could only get four loans, or at least you could only easily get four investor loans before that expanded to 10. And we just shouldn't always assume that it's going to be this way forever.   Caeli Ridge  29:06   Yeah, so I kind of going back before 08,09, there was no limit to the number of finance properties Fannie and Freddie would secure per individual. After that crash, it shut off, and it got to four to your point. And then it stayed there for a while, until we kind of brought it back to that 10. You know, there's been rumors for years that they're going to up it to 12 or 15 or some random number. I don't even know where it's coming from. I always make a joke and say, Yeah, between now and my death, we'll see that. But it would be nice. It would be nice if they increase that number a few   Keith Weinhold  29:35   now, as someone is qualifying there, you probably run into a lot of borrowers that believe certain myths or have to have misconceptions corrected. Tell us about some of those    Caeli Ridge  29:45   the biggest myths, I'm going to say that it's probably one of three things they believe that they've got to make 10s of 1000s of dollars a month or hundreds of 1000s of dollars a year to qualify. Absolutely not true. It's so much less about the monthly. Income than it is the monthly income in relation to your minimum payments on your credit report. So just as an example, I could have a client that only shows $1,000 a month of income, but if they truly have no debt and some of the other qualifying criteria, they can qualify for a mortgage on an investment property, because the investment property has income to offset that mortgage payment. So it dispel the myth about having massive amounts of monthly income. That's not necessary. It's about the income and your monthly debt that we find on your credit report. That would be the first thing. The other thing, speaking of credit reports, I would say, is that a lot of times, people think that the overall debt that they're carrying matters. I mean, Mr. Jones could have $300,000 worth of debt, but his monthly payments are only 1500 All I care about is that monthly amount. I do not care what the total outstanding debt is. I hear that one a lot inquiries, credit inquiries. Every time you have your credit pulled, it drops the score, 20 points. Not the case. Now I can go down that rabbit hole, Keith, but it is a rabbit hole, so maybe I'll just leave it there. Your credit score does not drop X number every time you have your credit pulled. That's a misnomer.   Keith Weinhold  31:07   Well, actually, that brings up a thought. Then once prospective borrower initiates with you in there and gets the ball rolling in qualifying for a loan, what are some reasons that deals die late in the process? So what does it take to be sure to hold that together?   Caeli Ridge  31:23   You know, I think it all boils down to communication. And we tell our clients this on the front end, treat us like your attorney. You tell us everything, do not own anything, so that we can ensure that we're guiding you appropriately. So lack of information can derail things. Let's say, for example, they change jobs, and it's a completely new line of work, and it could prohibit or preclude the amount of income that we could have we were using now DTI gets changed, or they buy a new car in the middle, and they don't think it's going to come up. And now it's a DTI issue. It can be all kinds of things, but the point there is communication is key. Just keep us informed, and then we will give you the input or advice, and then you do what you want with that. But at least it's not once the bell is rung.   Keith Weinhold  32:05   Live pretty conservatively and safely until that loan closes. Yes, sir. Well, does that bring up any stories? Sometimes people learn better that way. Is there a deal? Perhaps that should have worked, but it didn't.   Caeli Ridge  32:20   That's a good question. You know, I think that the answer is no, and mostly because we have such a diverse menu of loan products, even if something did happen and even if it was outside of anyone's control, let's say we would normally just pivot to another loan product that would accommodate whatever that event ended up being. I cannot think of an example where a deal fell apart that could have gone differently, that we weren't able to just simply pivot into another path and close the loan for    Keith Weinhold  32:49   well, America is a place that promotes entrepreneurship, and it seems like side hustles as well are more popular than they've been before. So can you talk to us about how self employed borrowers get evaluated?    Caeli Ridge  33:04   Yeah, it is different. I mean, the simplest way to describe it is, we're going to take the adjusted gross income, but there are something called add backs. So depending on what their deductions are, there are certain things like Depreciation or Amortization or, I mean, there's a whole slew of things that we're able to take those numbers and add it back into the Adjusted Gross and then divide by 12 or 24 whatever it needs to be. That's typically what we're going to be looking at for a self employed person, versus the straight w2 is just the gross income divided by 12 months.   Keith Weinhold  33:35   Well, Caeli, this has been really good with some strategies and some actionable tactics. Before I ask how one can learn more about ridge? Is there any last thing that you'd like to share with us, whether that's to expand on anything we discussed, or any of the more nascent things that have happened, like banks holding less in capital reserves, or Fannie Mae, except in crypto back mortgages? Is there anything else we really ought to know?    Caeli Ridge  33:57   You know, I think my advice right now for anybody that is in real estate investing, thinking about getting into real estate investing, be informed. Listen to people like Keith, ideally, listen to people like me. I've been doing this for a very, very long time. I'm an educator at heart. Get your information from sources that you can trust, and try to avoid the analysis paralysis the best you can. I know that people get hung up on that, but now is the best time ever, and I would say that tomorrow and the next day and next year and the year after that, to invest in real estate.   Keith Weinhold  34:27   Yes, the only thing that could possibly make now better than ever is now is sooner than it's ever going to be again. Well, Caeli, if someone wants to get a hold of ridge so they can tell you their situation, and you can then help them find out how you can best help. What should they do?    Caeli Ridge  34:43   There's so many ways. Check out our website, ridgelinengroup.com you can email us info@ridgelinengroup.com you can call us toll free at 855, 74, Ridge. All of those ways get to us, and I look forward to speaking with each and every one of you   Keith Weinhold  34:58   that's been valuable. Always It's been great having you here.    Caeli Ridge  35:01   Thanks. Keith   Keith Weinhold  35:08   Caeli brought up a great point from the lender's view, when they make a loan, it might be safer for them to lend on an income property loan, actually, than it is for your own home, because on the income property, you have a substantially higher qualification bar to clear, and you have to make a higher down payment on it. I hadn't thought about it that way before. As far as Fannie Mae accepting crypto backed mortgage structures, that is still new as of this year. How it works with a crypto backed mortgage is that you're usually getting two loans. First you get a normal mortgage, and then for your down payment, it's a separate loan that's backed by your crypto. Your crypto stays locked up for years and you can't trade it while it's pledged as your home down payment. That's generally how it works. But notice the attraction. You would also get to keep your crypto while you're leveraging it. Also notice the risk there, and very few banks offer this, think Coinbase and not JPMorgan Chase. It's still new and niche, and it remains to be seen whether or not crypto backed loans will gain any real traction. It's only likely going to accept Bitcoin, Ethereum or stablecoins, not altcoins. Only about 1% of homebuyers use crypto in transactions. Most of what the current presidential administration has done focuses on making mortgages easier to get, not in making homes cheaper. Making mortgages easier to get means more bidders and higher prices. Washington can make it easier to get a mortgage, but they cannot make a $400,000 property cost $300,000 we talked about how to borrow to win today, and big thanks to our terrific guest. Until next week, I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, though you might quit your day job, don't quit your Daydream.   Speaker 2  37:17   Nothing on this show should be considered specific, personal or professional advice, please consult an appropriate tax, legal, real estate, financial or business professional for individualized advice. Opinions of guests are their own. Information is not guaranteed. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss. The host is operating on behalf of get rich Education LLC, exclusively you   Keith Weinhold  37:45   The preceding program was brought to you by your home for wealth, building, get richeducation.com  

The rapid surge in energy demand from AI data centers and advanced manufacturing is pushing the American power grid to its limit, sparking a high-stakes race to secure the nation's electrical future. This pressure on the grid is also impacting Americans, who have seen their energy bills increase significantly. Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy, joins to discuss the necessity of an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy to maintain dispatchable power, how to keep energy bills down, and what must be done to ensure the United States outpaces China in the global competition for AI dominance. Plus, CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz joins to discuss his mission to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse related to Medicaid. PHOTO CREIDT: AP PHOTO Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Subscribe now for the full episode. Danny and Derek speak with Judah Grunstein, World Politics Review's editor-at-large, about American power and what a post-unipolar future might look like. They discuss the meaning of the liberal international order, U.S. empire and legitimacy, Trump challenging American primacy, the role of middle powers, China and the European Union, climate change and development, strategic autonomy, and the possibility of Washington not ushering in a new order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a 76-day long shutdown, the Department of Homeland Security has reopened, bringing the longest funding lapse in U.S. history to an end. FOX New Chief Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram joins to explain what it took to finally reopen DHS, before going over the FISA debate and how this past week's Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act could impact the ongoing redistricting fight ahead of midterms. Later, FOX News Audio White House Correspondent Jared Halpern shares his firsthand account of the third attempted assassination attempt on President Trump at last week's White House Correspondent's Dinner.   PHOTO CREDIT: ADOBE STOCK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One week ago, the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in Washington, D.C., was cut short by a harrowing assassination attempt. President Trump, attending the annual event for the first time in his presidency, was rushed to safety by the Secret Service alongside members of his Cabinet and various lawmakers. The suspect, 31-year-old California teacher and engineer Cole Allen, faces charges of attempted assassination after allegedly rushing past a magnetometer and opening fire outside the Washington Hilton ballroom. While one Secret Service agent was struck, he was fortunately saved by his bulletproof vest and is currently recovering. In the wake of this security breach, major questions are being asked: How did this happen, and how can we protect the President at future high-profile events? Earlier this week, Charles Marino—a former Secret Service Supervisory Special Agent and DHS Advisor—joined host Dave Anthony to break down the tactical failures of that evening and the urgent changes needed to Secret Service protocols. Marino explained the challenges of keeping a President safe and what needs to be done at future, large events. We often have to cut interviews short during the week, but we thought you might like to hear the full interview. Today on Fox News Rundown Extra, we will share our entire interview with Charles Marino Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Republican chairmen of the US congressional armed services committees have said they're very concerned about the Pentagon's decision to withdraw five thousand troops from Germany. Senator Roger Wicker and Representative Mike Rogers warned that prematurely reducing America's forward presence in Europe risked undermining deterrence and sending the wrong signal to Vladimir Putin. NATO says it's seeking clarification from Washington about the plan.Also in the programme: FIFA will allow a team of Afghan women refugees to represent their country in international tournaments; and we look back on the life of a former racing driver and Paralympian.(Photo: A soldier pilots a drone during the 'Combined Resolve' exercise at 7th Army Training Command's Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels. More than 3,800 personnel participate in the exercise series, which is a reoccurring U.S. Army Europe and Africa exercise held several times throughout the year for its rotationally deployed troops. US-led army exercise 'Combined Resolve' - media day, Hohenfels, Germany - 30 Apr 2026. CREDIT: ANNA SZILAGYI/EPA/Shutterstock)

The US says it will withdraw five thousand of its troops from Germany, as a rift widens between the two countries over the war in Iran. The German Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius, says Washington's decision was foreseeable, but that the continuing presence of American forces was in German and US interests. We speak to a German member of the European parliament. Also on the programme: British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer tells the BBC that he wants tougher policing of protests in the UK after the stabbing of two Jewish men in London; and we hear from two Afghan female footballers about their hopes of competing internationally. (Photo: Badge of a soldier is seen during the 'Combined Resolve' exercise at 7th Army Training Command's Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, 30 April 2026. Credit: Photo by ANNA SZILAGYI/EPA/Shutterstock)

Kevin reacts to Washington's draft including reviews of sonny styles, comparisons from FL executives, and Dan Quinn's thoughts on his potential role.

Seattle might put a hold on building new data centers. A Seattle theater is facing $400,000 in damages from copper wire theft. A lawsuit has been filed over Washington’s plan to gut the state’s police and pension fund. A slight change to Costco’s food court. // LongForm: GUEST: The founder of the biohacking movement Dave Asprey on the benefits of peptides, nicotine, and other misconceptions about health and wellness. // Quick Hit: Part 2 of Jason's conversation with the founder of the modern biohacking movement Dave Asprey.

What’s Trending: Experts say that herd immunity is unlikely, restaurant owners are worried about phase 2 rollback, during te May Day riots, a driver drives through radicals, police/prison abolitionists were then mad that the driver wasn’t arrested, and Chimacum High School bribes kids into getting vaccines. Washington’s rural housing market is booming. A Snohomish asbestos testing company got hit with a one-thousand-percent increase in unemployment taxes -- only to discover it was a mistake on Employment Security's part. KIRO Radio’s Nicole Jennings explains.

Kate Adie introduces stories on the King and Queen's visit to Washington, the current mood inside Iran, elections in Gaza and the West Bank, and why fish are front and centre in the politics of West Bengal.King Charles and Queen Camilla's state visit to Washington came at a fragile moment in the UK-US relationship. A gulf has opened up between the two nations over issues such as Ukraine, defence spending, tariffs, and the Iran War. Sarah Smith reflects on how far the visit has helped restore the 'special relationship'.Donald Trump's admiration for the traditions of the Royal Family was on full display during the visit, as he praised the King as an ‘elegant man'. Sean Coughlan has travelled with the King on previous tours, and reveals what made this one different.Inflation has soared to 50 per cent in Iran and people continue to struggle with rising prices of staples such as rice, eggs and cheese, as the stand-off in the Strait of Hormuz continues to disrupt trade. Lyse Doucet reflects on her recent encounters while visiting Tehran.Municipal elections were held last weekend in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Hamas was officially excluded from participating, as the Palestinian Authority requires parties and candidates to recognise the state of Israel - something Hamas refuses to do. Jon Donnison has been in Ramallah.And in West Bengal a fierce state election battle is underway. Indian PM Narendra Modi's BJP has mounted an aggressive push to unseat the Trinamool Congress party which is seeking a fourth consecutive term. Soutik Biswas reveals how a culinary tradition has become a surprising hot-button issue.Series Producer: Serena Tarling Production Coordinators: Katie Morrison and Sophie Hill Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

Most people don't have a money problem… they have a mindset problem.In this episode of Finance on Fridays, we break down how credit, lifestyle inflation, and bad financial habits keep people looking rich but staying broke. From the “it's not real money” mindset to the trap of spending before investing—this is the conversation people avoid, but need.If you've ever made more money and still felt stuck… this is for you.What we cover:Why credit cards create a false sense of wealthThe real reason people stay broke after making moneyHow your environment shapes your financial decisionsThe habits that separate wealth builders from spendersTap in every Friday for real conversations about money, mindset, and building wealth.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Congressional maps being redrawn across the country, sparking new legal battles ahead of the 2026 midterms. Following a major Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act, states like Florida and Virginia are facing challenges over how their districts are shaped and which party they favor. FOX News Sunday anchor Shannon Bream joins the Rundown to break down these redistricting battles and whether they will actually shift the balance of power in Washington. Plus, a look at the security questions surrounding the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting and a preview of Shannon's upcoming sit-down with Justice Neil Gorsuch. Following an endorsement from President Trump, a significant public conversation has emerged surrounding the California gubernatorial race, Republican consolidation, and the broader implications for the state's economic future. Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Hilton joins to discuss his experience as a top contender in the polls, the challenges of navigating California's primary system, and his proposed plan to reduce the state's bureaucratic government and high cost of living.  PLUS, commentary by David Marcus, columnist for FOX News Digital.  PHOTO CREDIT: ASSOCIATED PRESS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the spring of 2026, Israel and the United States conducted joint offensive military operations against Iran: coordinating targets, dividing airspace, and operating with a degree of integration that has no precedent in the history of the alliance. The operation significantly degraded Iran's military capabilities, and it marked what many analysts regard as a genuine turning point, not just in the regional balance of power, but in the nature of the American-Israeli relationship itself. For decades, that relationship had been structured as a powerful patron supporting a dependent client. What the Iran war suggested to some observers is that Israel has—at least in part—outgrown that structure. That is the backdrop for a debate that is now live in both Jerusalem and Washington: what should American military aid to Israel look like when the current memorandum of understanding between the two countries expires in 2028? The U.S. currently provides Israel with approximately $3.5 billion annually in grants, earmarked for the purchase of American-made military equipment—an arrangement that dates to the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War and that has been renewed, and periodically enlarged, ever since. For most of that period, the case for the aid seemed self-evident. First the Arab states, and then Iran and its proxies, were actively threatening Israel's existence. American military and diplomatic support was an indispensable buttress of Israel's security. Whether that case remains self-evident today, in the wake of a war that has significantly diminished Iranian capabilities, is now a serious question being debated by Israelis and Americans of good faith, with thoughtful arguments on multiple sides. In this episode, Mosaic's editor Jonathan Silver speaks with a proud Israeli patriot who has been making the case for ending American aid for some time. Raphael BenLevi is a senior fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, director of the Churchill Program for Statecraft and Security at the Argaman Institute in Jerusalem, a reserve officer in the IDF intelligence branch, and an occasional contributor to Mosaic. He recently published an essay in Foreign Affairs titled "America Should Be Israel's Partner, Not Its Patron." This week's episode of the Tikvah Podcast is generously sponsored by Steven Kleinman in memory of his mother, Estelle Fox. If you are interested in sponsoring an episode of the Tikvah Podcast, we invite you to join the Tikvah Ideas Circle. Visit tikvah.org/circle to learn more and join.

Kevin breaks down Washington's draft, including high praise for Sonny Styles and what team executives are saying about their selections.

This week I'm sharing the third installment from the day-long conference convened by the Institute for America, China, and the Future of Global Affairs (ACF) at Johns Hopkins SAIS on April 3rd in Washington — "The China Debate We're Not Having: Politics, Technology, and the Road Ahead." The first two episodes featured Jessica Chen Weiss's opening remarks and the panels on what China wants and what the United States wants. This week's panel — "Tech, Rivalry, and Competing Visions of the Future" — turns to the domain that, more than any other, has come to define how Washington thinks about the U.S.-China relationship: technology, and especially AI. Once again, my deep thanks to Jessica Chen Weiss, ACF's inaugural faculty director, for organizing this terrific conference and for so generously letting me share this audio with Sinica listeners. Moderator Kat Duffy of the Council on Foreign Relations opens by interrogating the very framing of the panel: is "rivalry" actually the right word for what's going on between the U.S. and China in tech? The panelists give a range of answers — from "yes, because both sides believe it is" to Samm Sacks's pithy rejoinder that "rivalry serves specific actors and specific interests." From there the conversation ranges across the FCC's recent move to bar most foreign-made routers, the pitfalls of framing AI competition as a sprint to AGI rather than what Jeff Ding calls a "diffusion marathon," the many internal Chinas that get flattened in DC discourse, the cybersecurity reciprocity problem (Volt Typhoon, Salt Typhoon, and what President Trump tellingly admitted about all of it), and what it would actually mean for the U.S. to compete by being its best self — what one panelist memorably calls "Americamaxxing." There's a lot of substance packed into this hour, and a lot of generative pushback against received DC wisdom. The audience Q&A at the end takes up the role of race and xenophobia in the discourse — a topic that, as one questioner pointedly notes, had been conspicuously absent from the day's earlier discussions. Panelists:— Samm Sacks, Senior Fellow, New America and Yale Law School— Jeff Ding, Assistant Professor of Political Science, George Washington University— Mieke Eoyang, Visiting Professor, Carnegie Mellon University; former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy— Selina Xu, Lead for China and AI Policy, Office of Eric Schmidt Moderator: Kat Duffy, Senior Fellow for Digital and Cyberspace Policy, Council on Foreign RelationsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week… Washington state is suing Albertson’s for deceptive BOGO deals. New stats from Pike Place Market say the car-free pilot could be helping increase business. And a “good samaritan” from Richland turned in a couple of overdue library books 64 years late. Too Beautiful to Live Co-Host Andrew Walsh and author Geraldine DeRuiter are here to break down the week. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How close are we to a new global conflict? In this episode, journalist Hannah Lucinda Smith speaks with global defence commentator Peter Apps about his new book The Next World War: The New Age of Global Conflict and the Fight to Stop It. From Ukraine to Taiwan, and from cyber warfare to space, Apps argues that the foundations of a new kind of global conflict are already in place. Drawing on reporting from the corridors of power in Washington, London, Moscow and Beijing, as well as frontline perspectives, Apps maps the fault lines shaping today's geopolitical landscape. He explores the return of great power rivalry, the rise of ‘hybrid' warfare, and the growing role of technology in reshaping how conflicts are fought. At its centre is a stark question: are these tensions containable, or are they leading towards a wider and more dangerous confrontation? Apps sets out how governments, militaries and societies are preparing for the possibility of large-scale conflict — and what might still be done to prevent escalation. Peter Apps is a global defence commentator at Reuters. He is the author of The Next World War: The New Age of Global Conflict and the Fight to Stop It. His podcast, Battle for the Next World War, will release soon.  Hannah Lucinda Smith is a journalist and foreign correspondent reporting on global politics and conflict. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dallas is dealing with George Pickens. Philadelphia is dealing with AJ Brown and Jalen Hurts conflict, and the Giants are going through a coaching change and general manager questions. For once, Washington is above the chaos.

Environmentalists say the Trump Administration is being short sighted in its decision to offer to buy out the leases of some offshore wind energy projects along California's Central Coast. Reporter: Lance Orozco, KCLU Peach growers in the Yuba-Sutter region and Central Valley are being thrown a lifeline from Washington, D.C. The move follows the closure of a major cannery that's left farmers without a buyer for their fruit. Reporter: Claudia Brancart, North State Public Radio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

American family farms are being systematically destroyed by the very government bills claiming to protect them. I'm joined by fourth-generation farmer and Farm Action Fund President Joe Maxwell to expose the massive corporate monopolies, land-grabs, and venture socialism hidden inside the $1.5 trillion farm bill. We dive deep into how taxpayer money is weaponized to drive up agricultural land prices, incentivize feed and fuel crops over actual food, and allow foreign conglomerates and hedge funds to dominate the meatpacking industry. If you want to know why beef prices are at record highs while cattle ranchers go bankrupt, the answer is in the cronyism of our agricultural policies. It is time to break up the monopolies, end crony subsidies and regulatory capture, pass the PRIME Act, and restore American food security. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Luke unlocked a new fear on his flight down to L.A. It involved someone else's bladder. He and Andrew also discuss the state of Washington's lawsuit over "Buy One, Get One Free" pricing schemes. And a listener from Queens tells an amazing tale of a neighborhood spat with "an O. Henry ending." 

The New Yorker staff writer Antonia Hitchens joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss a surreal week in Washington: the attempted assassination of Donald Trump during the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, followed days later by a state visit from King Charles III and Queen Camilla. They talk about what Hitchens witnessed inside the Hilton ballroom during the shooting attempt, and how Washington responded in the days that followed. They also discuss the state of the “special relationship” between the United States and the United Kingdom, how Trump embraced the pageantry of the royal visit, and what King Charles's trip was meant to signal diplomatically. They also explore what the week's whiplash reveals about covering politics during the second Trump term.This week's reading: “D.C. Gets a King It Actually Wants,” by Antonia Hitchens “Inside the White House Correspondents' Dinner as Gunshots Rang Out,” by Antonia Hitchens “Can the E.P.A. Survive Lee Zeldin?,” by Elizabeth Kolbert “The Kirkification of Our Troubled Times,” by Brady Brickner-Wood “Donald Trump's Lose-Lose Negotiations with Iran,” by Isaac Chotiner The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine's writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week. Tune in to The Political Scene wherever you get your podcasts. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In Episode 478 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Jon Alterman, the Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, about why the Islamic Republic of Iran has refused to capitulate in its war with the United States and Israel,, how Russia and China are positioning themselves to exploit the conflict, and what recent wars have taught us about the future of warfare and a potential direct military confrontation between the United States and China. The first hour examines the constellation of tools Tehran has cultivated to compensate for its conventional military weakness, and which have been deployed to great effect against the United States and Israel, and the mismatch between the speed of modern warfare and the speed with which political change is demanded in Washington, which has frustrated the architects of this latest military campaign from the outset. They also discuss the deepening of US-Israeli military integration following October 7th, the implications for peace negotiations of an Iranian political economy whose survival is bound up with its pariah status, and what a viable diplomatic off-ramp might ultimately look like for Tehran, Washington, Tel Aviv, and other countries with a vested interest in how this war turns out. The second hour is devoted to how Moscow and Beijing are already positioning themselves to exploit the war, the structural challenges that may render China less ascendant than the consensus narrative suggests, and the rupture in transatlantic and US-Canada relations that Jon believes will leave permanent scars regardless of who occupies the White House at the end of Trump's second term. They also discuss the implications for the Gulf in light of the UAE's announced departure from OPEC, the deepening Saudi-Emirati rivalry, the durability of the "exit narrative" that has flourished among a new class of transnational elites in this more volatile global security environment, and what the war between the US, Israel, and Iran and other recent conflicts have taught us about what a direct military confrontation between the United States and China might actually look like. Subscribe to our premium content—including our premium feed, episode transcripts, and Intelligence Reports—by visiting HiddenForces.io/subscribe. If you'd like to join the conversation and become a member of the Hidden Forces Genius community—with benefits like Q&A calls with guests, exclusive research and analysis, in-person events, and dinners—you can also sign up on our subscriber page at HiddenForces.io/subscribe. If you enjoyed today's episode of Hidden Forces, please support the show by: Subscribing on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud, CastBox, or via our RSS Feed Writing us a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify Join our mailing list at https://hiddenforces.io/newsletter/ Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou Subscribe and support the podcast at https://hiddenforces.io. Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @hiddenforcespod Follow Demetri on Twitter at @Kofinas Episode Recorded on 04/28/2026

From 04/30 Hour 3: The Sports Junkies preview the Washington Commanders season.

04/30 Hour 3: What's Washington's Ceiling This Season - 1:00 Pete Prisco Joins The Junkies - 13:00 Nuggets Mascot Is On A Different Level - 31:00

The Supreme Court heard arguments on two cases where the Trump administration is attempting to end TPS, or Temporary Protected Status, for thousands of Haitians and Syrians living in the US. Ciarán Donnelly, senior vice president for International Programs at International Rescue Committee, and Daniel Berlin, policy director of Protection Pathways at the International Rescue Committee, offer their take on why the program should stay legal, as well as talk about the humanitarian crisis they say is ongoing in Haiti.Photo by Joe Ravi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons): Panorama of the west facade of United States Supreme Court Building at dusk in Washington, D.C., United States of America 

Colts GM Chris Ballard tells Rich he wouldn't mind seeing the NFL shrink the time between first-round picks at the Draft from 8 minutes down to 5, evaluates Indianapolis' 2026 draft class, updates the status of QB Daniel Jones' recovery from a torn Achilles heel, says why he was more than happy to overpay to keep WR Alec Pierce in Indy, and more. Commanders Head Coach Dan Quinn tells Rich why he “can't wait to coach” his 1st-round draft pick Ohio State LB Sonny Styles, says why Jayden Daniels is out to prove his doubters wrong after an injury-plagued 2025 season, weighs in on the chances of Von Miller and Bobby Wagner returning to Washington next season, and more.  Rich reacts to Saudi Arabia's PIF ending its funding of the upstart LIV Golf tour. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From 'Take Command' (subscribe here): With the Draft in the rearview mirror, it's time to figure out how the Commanders picks fit in their position groups in Washington and who the Commanders signed as UDFAs... Logan and Grant kick off the pod by diving into how Sonny Styles and Joshua Josephs fit into the linebacker and edge rusher rooms respectively, and more! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Washington state is going back to court with the Northwest ICE Processing Center. The state argues they should be able to inspect the facility. But the federally contracted detention center owners disagree. We’ll unpack what’s going on with the Washington State Standard’s Jake Goldenstein-Street. Read more about it from Jake here. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During the Revolutionary War a vital web of intelligence was established, with General Washington at its head. Operating through coded letters, hidden signals, and a chain of ordinary civilians turned spies, their secrecy and precision proved that even the quietest network could alter the course of a revolution.Our guest today is Dr. Alexander Rose, historian and author of Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring, was adapted into the AMC period drama series, Turn: Washington's Spies.Don's new documentary on Fort Laramie is available to watch now for all History Hit subscribers. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Tomos Delargy. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.All music from Epidemic Sounds.American History Hit is a History Hit podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Democrats’ policy just allowed another infant to die from a fentanyl overdose. Mahmoud Khalil may finally get deported. Drew Carey committed a major Seattle faux pas. // LongForm: GUEST: UW political science professor Victor Menaldo explains why Washington's new ban on noncompete clauses is a bad idea. // Quick Hit: More bad polling for Democrats — courtesy of CNN.  

Seattle’s office vacancy rate is the worst in the nation at 33%, Q1 2026 report confirms. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth appeared before Congress to discuss the conflict in Iran today. Guest: Republican State Senator Drew MacEwen sounds off on one of the biggest credit agencies in the country giving Washington a bleak financial outlook. // Jay Inslee is lying about Washington’s emissions record — the numbers prove it. Should we be wary about putting more data centers on rural land? // A new study suggests that watching video videos of junk food can help fight cravings. Panera is receiving backlash from its employees over it’s new menu items. Bridal stores are requiring waivers because of weight loss drugs.

While we celebrate the US military's accomplishments over the first forty days of the Iran conflict, a less desirable outcome has been the significant expenditure of munitions and reallocation of critical resources to the region. In Last Rounds? Status of Key Munitions at the Iran War Ceasefire, Colonel (Ret.) Mark Cancian and associate Chris Park crunch the numbers on the seven most heavily used munitions. Rest assured, there's enough left to cover any scenario with Tehran, but a future conflict with China in the Western Pacific highlights inadequate Pentagon inventories. Much like Ukraine before it, this conflict exposes the fragility of America's defense industrial base, making urgent, creative solutions from what Cancian and Park call the "primordial soup of R&D" essential. So, is Washington finally ready to take that lesson seriously?Mark Cancian (Colonel, USMCR, ret.) is a senior adviser with the CSIS Defense and Security Department. He joined CSIS in April 2015 from the Office of Management and Budget, where he spent more than seven years as chief of the Force Structure and Investment Division, working on issues such as Department of Defense budget strategy, war funding, and procurement programs, as well as nuclear weapons development and nonproliferation activities in the Department of Energy. Previously, he worked on force structure and acquisition issues in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and ran research and executive programs at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.Chris H. Park is a research associate for the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).Read the transcript here.Read the report here.Subscribe to our Substack here.

Hour 2 of BMitch & Finlay features the guys discussing Brandon Aiyuk's fit with the Commanders and Kevin Durant's possible fit with the Wizards.

For most of the past few decades, North Korea was considered a top challenge for American foreign policy. In the past few years, however, it has mostly receded from attention—not because the U.S. approach to the problem succeeded but because it so completely failed. U.S. policy insisted that North Korea could never become a nuclear power, yet North Korea's program has accelerated year by year, threatening not just American allies, but now the American homeland. U.S. policy aimed to isolate the Kim family's totalitarian regime, yet the North Korean leadership has managed to skillfully navigate the new geopolitics, solidifying its rule and bolstering ties with both China and Russia. The commitment to pursuing nuclear weapons no matter the cost has looked especially savvy in the wake of U.S. attacks on Iran. Victor Cha has long been one of the foremost practitioners and analysts of U.S. policy toward North Korea. In a new essay for Foreign Affairs, he argues that Washington must reckon with this long record of failure and craft a new strategy for managing the North Korea problem, one that gives up for now on denuclearization and tries to achieve what Cha calls a cold peace.  Editor Dan Kurtz-Phelan spoke to Cha on Monday, April 27, about the misjudgments at the heart of U.S. policy; about the nature of the North Korean threat today; and about what a new approach would mean for the United States, for the Korean peninsula, and for Asia more broadly in the years ahead. You can find sources, transcripts, and more episodes of The Foreign Affairs Interview at https://www.foreignaffairs.com/podcasts/foreign-affairs-interview.

From 'Take Command' (subscribe here): With the Draft in the rearview mirror, it's time to figure out how the Commanders picks fit in their position groups in Washington and who the Commanders signed as UDFAs... Logan and Grant kick off the pod by diving into how Sonny Styles and Joshua Josephs fit into the linebacker and edge rusher rooms respectively, and more! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

La sécurité du président des États-Unis a-t-elle des failles ? Après Butler et West Palm Beach, le président vient de survivre à une nouvelle attaque au gala de la presse à Washington. Et si les présidents américains ont toujours fait l'objet de menaces, trois tentatives d'assassinat en trois ans, c'est inédit. Dans cet épisode d'Une Lettre d'Amérique, Eva Serayol et Arnaud Tousch vous racontent cette attaque et les heures qui ont suivi.Hébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

The Supreme Court considers Temporary Protected Status, King Charles visits Washington, the U.K. moves to phase out smoking, and a Desert Shield and Desert Storm memorial. Plus, Bethel McGrew on protecting the vulnerable, making marathon history, and the Wednesday morning newsSupport The World and Everything in It today at wng.org/donateAdditional support comes from Moody Publishers and Dr. Kathy Koch's book Resolve Conflict and Find Peace and Hope with Adult Children which offers biblical wisdom for parents navigating challenging relationships with their grown kids. With practical insight and compassionate guidance, the book helps parents pursue peace while maintaining healthy boundaries and hope for the future. Order here.And from St. Dunstan's, inviting young men into the building arts and the adventure of holiness on a Blue Ridge Mountains farm... stdunstansacademy.org

This episode was sponsored by Cardiff & MocToe Wine Co.   LightSpeed VT: https://www.lightspeedvt.com/ Dropping Bombs Podcast: https://www.droppingbombs.com/ Today's Dropping Bombs episode features Andrew Schultz, an Army veteran turned winemaker who spent over a decade farming some of Washington State's most elite vineyards before buying the one where his career first began.   Andrew gets into what actually makes a great wine (it starts in the field, not the cellar), why Washington is quietly producing some of the most underrated bottles in the world, and how he built a business that takes care of the people doing the real work.   From combat tours to owning some of the most sought-after land in American wine country, this is a story about what obsession and integrity build over time. This episode is proof that patience, integrity, and doing things right still wins.  

Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted Tuesday over a photo of seashells officials said threatened President Donald Trump, marking the administration's second attempt to prosecute one of his biggest political opponents, three sources first told CNN. An arrest warrant has now been issued for Comey, but it's unclear whether he will be taken into custody by law enforcement or turn himself in and tonight, Mr. Comey responded to the charges. Plus, an historic day in Washington, as King Charles becomes only the second British royal ever to address a joint meeting of Congress.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alan's Soap https://AlansSoaps.com/ToddHonor John's memory and the legacy he created for Ian and Alan with Alan's Artisan Soaps “John's Favorites” bundle.  Get one bar of each of his favorites for only $28.99. Bulwark Capital https://KnowYourRiskPodcast.comBe confident in your portfolio with Bulwark! Schedule your free Know Your Risk Portfolio review. Go to KnowYourRiskPodcast.com today. Renue Healthcare https://Renue.Healthcare/ToddYour journey to a better life starts at Renue Healthcare. Visit https://Renue.Healthcare/Todd Bonefrog https://BonefrogCoffee.com/ToddGet the new limited release, The Sisterhood, created to honor the extraordinary women behind the heroes. Use code TODD at checkout to receive 10% off your first purchase and 15% on subscriptions.LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE at:The Todd Herman Show - Podcast - Apple PodcastsThe Todd Herman Show | Podcast on SpotifyWATCH and SUBSCRIBE at: Todd Herman - The Todd Herman Show - YouTubeI'm going to ask this again, what does John Thune have on President Trump? What does Anthony Fauci have? I'll explain…Episode Links:In the middle of the night the John Thune led Senate voted to give billions of our tax dollars to fund transgender surgeries for children. RINOs and democrats are on the same team. Lindsey Graham says he will force Americans to pay for the new White House ballroom by introducing a bill that would authorize $400 million in U.S. taxpayer money. He says that underneath the ballroom there will be a lot of “military stuff.” “The sooner we get the ballroom built, the better it is for the country.” NIH Has Removed World's “Foremost Coronavirus Biologist” from All Grants; UNC Placed Professor on Leave; “They started willy nilly mutating viruses, and then got upset when this led to 20 million deaths.” “I state without reservation that the United States federal government under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris is the world's largest child sex trafficking organization in modern history. The probability…that thousands of these children are being raped at this very moment is one hundred percent." - Testimony in United States congress. J.J. Carrell Retired Deputy Patrol Agent in Charge U.S. Border Patrol David Morens Was Just Indicted. We Told You This Was Never Just “Bad Email Hygiene.”; The former Fauci adviser's FOIA games are now a criminal case. The question is whether Washington has the nerve to follow the evidence where it leads. Nick Shirley found (108) people registered to vote in one home. A woman wanted to show how easy it was to commit voter fraud that she registered her two dogs and they voted. A woman voted in four times but she was already dead. Pass the Save America Act right now Here it is: Dominion forensic images confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt that an anonymous user logged onto the Election Management System remotely in Antrim County, Michigan, on November 5, 2020, and tampered with the database of the 2020 election. Hillary Clinton taunts tampering with the election against Donald Trump: "Maybe what they'll do this next time, is to REALLY disrupt the actual election. Shut down the servers that you send results to. Interfere with the operation of voting machines, because still, TOO MANY OF THEM ARE LINKED TO THE INTERNET." On CNN & PBS, Amanpour Plays Up Yale Prof's Idea of Trump's 'Superpower Suicide'

DOJ Goes After Comey. FCC vs Jimmy Kimmel. 1100 TSA Officers Quit Since Shutdown. Kid Rock's Apache Joy Ride with Hegseth. UAE Leaves OPEC. Gov Moore on Open Primaries.  A real king is in Washington this week, and the wannabe king in the Oval Office is making the most of the pomp. Paul Rieckhoff opens with King Charles and Camilla's visit, the Epstein questions nobody at the White House wants to touch, and the through-line that drives this entire briefing: Trump is busting up Congress, the UN, NATO, the World Bank, the EU, and now OPEC — and the institutions that held this country and this world together are being stress-tested in real time. Gas hits $4.18, the UAE bolts from the cartel, 1,100 TSA officers walk off the job, and most Americans have no idea any of it is happening. From there it's a no-BS sweep across the front lines: a $400 million ballroom funded by your tax dollars after Trump promised to pay himself, a no-bid contract inflated 3X, Pete Hegseth taking Kid Rock on Apache joyrides while the chain of command rots, the FCC weaponized against ABC and Jimmy Kimmel, a renewed indictment push against Jim Comey over seashells on a beach, and 185 people killed in 54 unauthorized strikes on so-called narco boats with Cuba telegraphed as next. Then the inspiration: Ukraine killing 30,000 Russian troops a month, Norway co-producing drones for Kyiv, independent veteran Todd Achilles taking on an 83-year-old senator in Idaho, Wes Moore endorsing open primaries, and Horace Grant's goggles. Country over party. People over politics. Light over heat. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Ditch your expensive carrier and support Independent Americans! Make the switch to Noble Mobile. -Join IVA and stand up to Trump's Forever Wars. -Learn more about Paul's work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Get some of Maine's finest gear - check out Loyal Citizen. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It's a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans: Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms Read more at Substack Support ad-free episodes at Patreon  Connect: Instagram  • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook  Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky -Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power.  -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year.  Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media.  And now part of the BLEAV network!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

En el PPP Extra de hoy:• Guerra de cabilderos – Parte II: sigue escalando el conflicto, con nuevas respuestas, ataques y exposición de clientes en Washington.• En Florida, Ron DeSantis mueve el tablero con un redistricting que afecta directamente a boricuas y aliados de la estadidad.• Y en el Patreon: #NoticieroWars — problemas internos en un canal que pueden cambiar el panorama mediático.En el chit chat:Renuncia el abogado local de Elías Sánchez… y eso no es menor.

The Correspondents Dinner assassin that wasn't, a Washington press freakout over hearing gunshots vaguely in the distance, and whether there's anyone left in America who hasn't tried to kill a president. Then we get into the paper thin federal indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center and the effort to protect the real victim of racism: Donald Trump's reputation. Also, the funny reactions of Nazis, who want to be very clear: the SPLC are dumb nerds who don't tell them what to do.Weekly Skews is brought to you by Americans United for Separation of Church and State.If you believe religious freedom is supposed to protect everybody, not be weaponized to turn away good families, visit https://www.au.org/crooked to learn more and become a member today. This episode is sponsored by ZBiotics. Go to https://www.zbiotics.com/SKEW now. You'll get 15% off your first order when you use SKEW at checkout

As more details emerge about the gunman who tried to rush the White House Correspondents Dinner, one thing is clear: it must be Democrats' fault. Jon, Lovett, and Tommy discuss the reaction to the violence in Washington and on social media, whether Trump will be able to use it to get his ballroom project un-stuck, and the latest with the stalemate with Iran. Then, Lovett talks with Katie Porter, one of the leading Democrats in the race for governor of California.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast, episode title, and episode date.

The man who stormed the White House Correspondents' Dinner is being charged with trying to assassinate President Trump, with new court documents revealing he booked the hotel a month in advance and emailed his motives minutes before the attempt.King Charles addresses Congress today during his state visit to Washington as the royal trip tests whether personal diplomacy can ease sharp tensions between the Trump administration and the UK government.As diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran remains stalled, Israel carried out new strikes in eastern Lebanon and Hezbollah launched drones at Israeli troops, with both sides accusing each other of violations.Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Anna Yukhananov, Rebekah Metzler, Ruth Sherlock Mohamad ElBardicy, and Ally Schweitzer.It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Ben Abrams.Our director is Christopher Thomas.We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.And our Supervising Senior Producer is Vince Pearson.(0:00) Introduction(02:09) White House Correspondents' Dinner Shooter In Court(05:41) Trump- King Charles Relationship(09:44) Lebanon Ceasefire In LimboSee pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Former congressman Jason Altmire has spent years in Washington—and even more time outside it—making the case that America's biggest opportunity isn't behind a desk, but behind a welding mask, a set of tools, or the wheel of a big machine. Now leading Career Education Colleges and Universities, he's on a mission to close the skills gap and reconnect hard work with real opportunity. In this episode, Mike and Jason dig into why millions of good jobs go unfilled, why the stigma around skilled labor refuses to die, and what it'll take to convince a new generation that "college for all" might not be the answer. Along the way, they unpack the ideas behind Jason's book, Trade Up: Why the Future Belongs to Skilled Trades and How Career Education is Transforming the Workforce—and make a compelling case that the fastest way to achieve the American Dream might be to pursue a skilled trade. Tip o' the hat to our excellent sponsors PureTalk.com/Rowe Get UNLIMITED hi-speed data for just $34.99 per month! SkillsUSA.org/mike Join the skilled trade movement! GoodRanchers.com Use code MIKE to get $25 off your first order & FREE meat for life. mikeroweWORKS.org/scholarship to apply for a work ethic scholarship.

King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive in the US to smooth over frayed relations between Washington and London. President Trump hosts afternoon tea at the White House. We'll look at whether the royal visit will make a difference. Also in this podcast: the man accused of trying to assassinate President Trump at a dinner for journalists appears in court. We report on the arrest of a boss of a Mexican drug cartel, how construction work for the men's football World Cup this summer is behind schedule, and the latest efforts to secure peace in the war with Iran. And we hear about one of naturalist David Attenborough's most memorable moments - an encounter with a group of gorillas.The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk

President Trump called for unity after shots were fired at the White House Correspondents Dinner with him and the Vice President on stage, then later returned to attacking the press and Democrats.The suspect in the attempted attack is in federal court today and not cooperating with investigators after his own family warned police just minutes before he tried to storm the ballroom.King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive in Washington today for a state visit as the White House weighs  security changes following Saturday's shooting.Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Megan Pratz, Krishnadev Calamur, Tina Kraja, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Ally Schweitzer.It was produced by Paige Waterhouse and Nia Dumas.Our Director is Christopher Thomas.We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Stacey Abbott.(0:00) Introduction(1:54) White House response(5:32) Shooting investigation(9:20) King CharlesSee pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy